You are having difficulties keeping to the diet and you are worried that tomorrow is the day to check if you have lost weight. Here are some crazy ideas to cheat on Weigh In day!
Explanation of expressions used in the podcast:
"Take with a pinch of salt" - don't trust this information too much.
"Emotional baggage" - things that you never stop worrying about.
"A heavy heart" - feeling sad or anxious.
"Get something off your chest" or "a load off your mind" - admit to what is worrying you.
"Carrying a weight on your shoulders" - worrying about things.
"Having a chip on your shoulder" - you are angry about someone or something.
"Having butterflies in your stomach" - being nervous.
"Having a frog in your throat" - your voice is bad because of a throat infection.

Bathroom scales image by Racool_studio https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/beautiful-fitness-girl-holding-scales_8026855.htm

The Social Evolutionary

Dieting? (Silly) Tricks to Beat the Scales. 

Charlotte la marmotte
Charlotte est paresseuse et très lente. Pour son anniversaire, ses amis ont préparé un énorme gâteau, garni de dix bougies. Le soir venu, tout le monde se rassemble dans la clairière. La marmotte s'approche du gâteau…
Deux heures plus tard, elle n'a encore éteint que deux bougies! L'assemblée s'impatiente et les plus jeunes s'endorment déjà. Il est minuit quand Charlotte souffle la cinquième bougie. Monsieur Hibou est le seul à garder les yeux ouverts…

Des Milliers D'histoires

Histoire 49 - Charlotte la marmotte

JOYCE: Should we take a taxi or a bus to the mall?
BILL: Let’s take a bus. It’s impossible to get a taxi during 
rush hour.
JOYCE: Isn’t that a bus stop over there?
BILL: Yes ... Oh! There’s a bus now. We’ll have to run to 
catch it.
JOYCE: Oh, no! We just missed it.
BILL: No problem. There’ll be another one in 10 minutes.


LANGUAGE NOTES
• Should we … or …? Is a way of asking “Which is better?” “Should” is used to ask 
for an opinion. Note that we do not say “Will” here.
• Take a taxi or a bus? The word “or” signals a choice here. Notice the rising 
intonation on taxi (the first choice) and falling intonation on bus (the second choice).
• Let’s (Let us) means “I think we should do this.”
• Rush hour is the time of day when most people are going to or from work. In most 
American cities, rush hour is from about 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. and from about 4:30 to 
6:30 p.m. Notice that “rush hour” is a compound noun, with the main stress on the 
first word.
• Isn’t that This is a negative question. The speaker expects an affirmative answer. It 
is used to check information.
• Bus stop is a compound noun, with the main stress on the first word.
• Oh! is an exclamation used to express alarm or surprise.
• Oh, no! is an expression used to express disappointment.
• We just missed it here means “We arrived a moment too late to get the bus.” 
Notice the emphasis on “just” to show the very recent past.
• No problem here means “It doesn’t matter.

English Conversation practice (30-day challenge)

Day 19: Transportation 

En este episodio te enterarás de: ¿Qué es el DELE y quién lo organiza? ¿Cuántos niveles hay? ¿Cómo puedo saber en qué nivel inscribirme? ¿Cómo son las pruebas del examen DELE? ¿Cómo saber dónde puedo hacer este examen? ¿Cómo saber cuánto cuesta inscribirse en el DELE?¿Cómo me inscribo para hacer el examen? ¿Por qué me puede interesar hacer el DELE? Obtener la nacionalidad española

DELE exam (B2-C1)

¿Por qué me interesa el DELE?

Intermediate Chinese Listening：迎接2026，新年快乐！Welcome 2026，Happy New Year！

Intermediate Chinese Listening

Sara posted a short video of her cat opening the refrigerator. She thought only her friends would watch it. But the next morning, thousands of people had shared it. By the end of the week, millions had seen it. Her cat had officially gone viral!

Last week, a shy student recorded himself singing in his bedroom. His friend shared the video without telling him. The next day, thousands of people were commenting. By Friday, the video had gone viral, and a music producer contacted him!

Idiom: Go viral
Meaning:
When something (a video, photo, post, story, etc.) spreads very quickly and widely on the internet because many people share it.

If something goes viral, a lot of people see it and share it online very fast.

It spreads fast — like a virus.

Example Sentences
Her dance video went viral on TikTok.

His tweet had gone viral and got millions of views.

Have you ever posted something online?
Have you seen a video that everyone was talking about?
Why do some videos become very popular?
What kind of videos usually go viral?
Would you like something you post to go viral? Why or why not?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of going viral?

English Mini Lessons

Go viral

大家好，今天我们来聊一个重要的方法，叫“避实击虚”。什么意思呢？就是说，打仗的时候，不要直接去打敌人很强的地方，而是要去找敌人比较弱的地方去打。这就像水一样，水总是从高的地方流向低的地方。举个例子。以前，瑞士的手表世界第一，但后来日本做出了便宜、准确的电子表，很多人就不买瑞士表了。

瑞士人没有跟着日本做电子表（这是“避实”）。他们想：我们最会做机械表，技术特别好。于是，他们努力把机械表做得更薄、更漂亮，做出了别人没有的特别手表（这是“击虚”）。

最后，人们又重新喜欢瑞士表，瑞士又赢了。

所以，成功不是模仿别人，而是找到自己的长处，做自己最擅长的事。这就是“避实击虚”的智慧。



《孙子兵法Sūnzǐ Bīngfǎ》The Art of War

《孙子兵法》16

We all have our dark hours when learning a language becomes frustrating and no longer seems appealing. To keep you motivated and to support you during those hours, I started recording episodes with successful learners - my subscribers and students from all over the world! This is the first episode of the Lingua Motivator thread of the Russian Bridge Podcast and I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Meet Erva, a 19 year old girl from Turkey!


RUSSIAN BRIDGE PODCAST

Lingua Motivator. Эрва (B1-B2)

It's not the language barrier! Job Interview Prep | IELTS Speaking prep.

You are looking at the effect, not the cause!

Does it sound familiar? - 

"I am unable to communicate with others"

"I feel shy&nervous starting a conversation"

"I have a language barrier"

If it seems familiar then the goal is to determine what part of you that feels/thinks this way?

You 'native' part doesn't feel shy talking to people or finding words, your 'language-learner' part does.

How was it formed and how it affects you and as the result how it affects your speaking ways will be talked about in the podcast which you don't want to miss :)

Let me know how was the recording, what you got out from it?

and in our 1-1, private mindset coaching + language coaching immersion method I use to teach people to communicate classes we'll dive deeper into  your unique case and help you succeed!

PS. The books name is "The New Psycho-Cybernetics: Maxwell Maltz".